


The Pretty Boy in the Water

by Dopple_Girl



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But it’s royality, Drowning, Fainting, Logan is human, M/M, Original Idea by Someone on Tumblr, Patton is a Mermaid, Patton is pining HARD, Probably going to sneak some Analogical in there, Roman almost dies, Roman is Human, The Pain Felt by Ariel in the Little Mermaid, Virgil is a Mermaid, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-06-23 04:10:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15598008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dopple_Girl/pseuds/Dopple_Girl
Summary: Patton falls head over heels for Roman as he falls into the water and almost drowns.





	1. Initial Interaction

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based on an AU created by @/rainbowplaidvirgil on Tumblr and I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I actually wrote something for it. So enjoy, I guess.

He was human. He was pretty. He wasn’t breathing. 

Patton saw the stranger the second he crashed into the water. There was a weight tied against his foot, dragging him down toward the ocean floor. There was no indication that the man was conscious, so Patton made his way over to the stranger. He didn’t need the human freaking out about him and making the situation worse than it already was. 

The man was wearing a white suit, with golden accents hidden delicately into the fabric. His tie was as red as the rose resting on the right side of his jacket. Some of the tips of his hair were faded red, lost in a sea of darker browns. Patton couldn’t see his eyes, they were his favorite part of people, but that wasn’t the biggest priority. The biggest priority was the the weight attached to his left ankle. It didn’t weight much—maybe like 5 pounds, 10 at most—but it was attached with a metal chain that Patton could no way break on his own. He needed to get the human to the shore. Some other human would find him and have something to get the metal off. 

Patton grabbed the stranger, wrapping one of his arms under his torso. One advantage of the soaked clothes was how easily Patton could feel the toned muscles underneath his shirt. If he could, he would love to just feel every curve and ... and now was really not the time to think about fantasy. He had a life in his hand quite literally. So he pushed his way against the pull of the weight toward the surface. 

When Patton broke the water, he looked around to see where exactly he was. While he knew the area well, he got distracted quite easily and managed to forget where he was quite easily. This was one of those days. But Patton spotted the low lying abandon dock and knew two things: where he was and that it was the perfect location for the human for the time being. 

Patton ducked once more under the water, since it was where he was faster, and made his way to the dock. It took some time, but he managed to bring the human out of the water and onto the dock, weight included. It was moments like these that Patton was glad that the dock was abandon. He didn’t have to worry about being spotted by people. But it was also a curse, because here was a possibly dying human and there was nobody to help him. He couldn’t help, and even if he did he wouldn’t know how. 

“I’ll be back.” He whispered to the unconscious man, before ducking below the surface of the water. He needed to find a human who could help. He swam along the coast, hoping that he’d be able to find someone at the nearest dock who’d be able to help. It was over a mile away, but it was his only chance to save the cute stranger. Fortunately for Patton, he didn’t have to swim that far. 

“Roman!!!” Patton popped his head up about a quarter of a mile away from the dock to see another panicked human. He was standing right on the shoreline, the waves crashing at his shoes. He wore a black polo and slacks, and the only pop of color was a multi-shade blue tie. He wore glasses against his pale skin, and his hair was slick back unlike the other man. “Roman!!!” He shouted again. 

“Hey!” Patton called out, careful to only have his torso exposed. The stranger looked at him. “I think I found him.”

“Show me.” There was a sort of authority to his voice that was laced in his panic. Patton pointed to the dock, which could just barely be seen from where he was positioned. But the stranger saw it and nodded. He took a few steps forward, before turning back toward Patton. “Coming?”

“I’m ... faster in the water.” Patton said shyly, before flashing a bright smile. “Try and keep up!

“Logan. Call me Logan.” The man filled in the blank and began to walk along. He picked up the pace to a full sprint once he saw the true extent of Patton’s speed in the water. They were by the handsome stranger in less that two minutes. 

“Can you help him?” Patton asked, and Logan nodded as he began CPR. The merman watched intensely, studying ever movement Logan’s hands made. 30 chest compressions, 2 seconds of breathing. He did this several times until the man started coughing, and Patton released a breathe he didn’t know he was holding onto. Logan turned him on his side toward Patton as he pulled a metal lock pick out of his back pocket. The stranger’s eyes remained closed.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Roman.” Patton echoed the name in his head. Such a fitting name for someone so ... regal. “What made you so careless? You could have DIED!!”

“Yeah, well, I lived bitch.” Roman’s voice was deep and filled with elegance in every syllable he spoke. Patton wanted to melt into him already. “Thanks for ... saving me, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.” Logan said as he dropped the weight behind, now free from Roman’s leg. Roman opened his eye and stared into Patton’s. Roman has brilliantly dark brown eyes with a little amber dashed away on their edges. 

“Thank you. For saving my life.” Roman repeated, now directed at Patton. The latter did his best not to make his face seem embarrassingly red. 

“It ... was no problem. I’m Patton, by the way. I don’t think I ever properly introduced myself.” Patton held out his hand to Roman, who began to sit up on dock. He smiled as he grabbed Patton’s hand. Patton could have honestly died right then and be content if the last thing he saw was Roman’s pearly white teeth. 

“Roman. Pleasure is all mine. Why don’t you come out of the water. You must be as soaked as I am.”

“N-No. I’m ... I’m fine.” Patton shied away, trying to find an excuse to leave. It was kinda hard with Roman still holding his hand. And trying to pull him up onto the dock. Luckily, Patton was very strong and was able to keep just his upper torso exposed. “Please, I don’t need ...”

“Logan, a little help would be appreciated.” Roman whined, ignoring Patton’s protests. Logan rolled his eyes and sighed, but grabbed Patton’s other hand and started pulling. Slowly, they began to lift Patton out of the water, despite his resistance. 

“Really, I don’t think this is a good idea!! I’m okay!!” Patton spoke urgently and rapidly as they approached the end of his torso. One more strong pull and Patton really began to panic and squirm as his scales were now exposed. Logan saw them and let go of Patton in shock. 

“LO!!” Roman screamed as Patton accidentally pulled the two of them back into the ocean. He opened his eyes under the water and saw what had made Logan drop Patton. Patton’s lower half were not legs, but rather a shimmering light blue tail that was twice as long as Roman’s entire body. If he squinted, he could see some of the scales glowed an iridescent rainbow color. He didn’t say anything, as he was still underwater. So he swam to the surface, breaking the water just before Patton did. 

“Roman ...” Patton said gently, unsure how to continue the sentence. Luckily, Roman spoke first. 

“Are you what I think you are?” He asked and Patton nodded. 

“Please don’t ... freak out.” Roman shook his head as he placed a hand on Patton’s cheek, using the other to help keep him afloat. 

“On you? Never.” Patton smiled as the two heard a thud to their side. They looked to see Logan laying down on the dock. “Though I can’t promise anything for my fainted friend over there.” Patton laughed, his cheeks lighting us with a dash of pink. 

Maybe today was looking up after all.


	2. The Impossible Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Patton need to face reality before their feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I published this a while ago on Tumblr but I figured I’d post it here since I do plan on continuing this. I have a bunch of ideas but I just have a few other things I want to get to first. This is short since I originally wrote it for a flash fiction challenge but I still believe it to be powerful and impactful regardless of its low word count. (Only 453 words. Shocking, I know.) So enjoy!

Roman was in love with Patton.

He was in love with way he managed to smile with his whole body. His patience with every question Logan asked about his anatomy, especially the ones that were not quite appropriate. His reassuring tone checking over any injuries Roman might of had, which he did not. Roman could stop imagining himself staring into Patton’s sea blue eyes and losing himself in his soft pink lips. He wanted a future with that man. And maybe it was a case where he is in love with the man who saved his life but screw it if it wasn’t real.

Real if he ignored several glaring facts. Forgot the fact that he was human and Patton was a mermaid, or merman if you were being technical. Dismiss all the enemies he’d made as a powerful and partially corrupt business heir. Throw away the notion that Patton probably didn’t have the same feelings for him that Roman did. But he couldn’t. They appeared in his head before he said goodbye and plagued his thoughts until he was able to breathe when Patton once once more sank below the surface of the water.

“You love him, don’t you?” Logan asked Roman, who had collapsed to his knees at the end of the dock. He chuckled, looking up into the eyes of one of the few people in his life he could trust.

“I fell in love the second I saw him in the water.” Patton gushed, swimming along the coral reefs. “Oh you should have seen him, Virgil. He had such features and his voice was so regal. He even had a cute friend if you wanted me to hook you two up …”

“I think I’ll pass, Pat.” Virgil swam ahead, and Patton watched as his purple, black and silver mismatched tail glided effortlessly in the water. “After all, they’re HUMANS.”

“When has that ever stopped me?” The older of the two, if only slightly, paused to pet a sea turtle.

“Um, always?” Virgil placed a hand on Patton’s shoulder, looking into his sea blue eyes. “You know that whatever is going on between you and this Roman guy can’t continue.”

“I know, but … there’s something at me that’s just screaming to go for it. To not care about how I’ll be kicked out of the kingdom if anyone finds out. To push these nerves down and take whatever risks I have to so I can call him mine. To at least be able to know if he feels the same way.”

Virgil sighed. “You love him, don’t you?” Patton giggles in response, echoing words that, unbeknownst to him, Roman had spoken only moments earlier.

“Is it that obvious?”


End file.
